


Your faith was strong but you needed proof

by TargaryenPug



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Comics, Justice League - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst fic, Divorce, M/M, One shot maybe, Relationship Problems, Tower of Babel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21602452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TargaryenPug/pseuds/TargaryenPug
Summary: Alfred Pennyworth, forever loyal butler and father...Trying desperatly to save a broken relationship asked for one thing before Clark left.“Master Clark...it’s going to rain soon, why don’t you come inside for a nice cup of tea? It seems like it would do us both well...besides, I much doubt you’d rather be wet”.A cup of tea that he couldn't refuse, and a golden oportunity that he had to take.(Forgive me, Summaries aren't my thing but please read it, it will be worth it)
Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Superman/Batman
Comments: 49
Kudos: 83





	Your faith was strong but you needed proof

He had been flying low around the Wayne Manor for months now.

Almost always finding the manor empty, and that day wasn’t out of the ordinary in that regard.

The sky was getting grey and cloudy and it was about to get late, still no soul or so he thought with a heavy sight he was ready to leave, until he heard a dim voice...not the voice he had come to hear but a voice he was indeed happy to hear…

“Master Kent?” was all the voice asked.

Clark turned his eyesight to behind him on the ground, it was Alfred, oh dear Alfred…

“I don’t mean to cause trouble, I just came to deliver some papers to Bruce but if he isn't here I can come back another time…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence…

“Master Clark...it’s going to rain soon, why don’t you come inside for a nice cup of tea? It seems like it would do us both well...besides, I much doubt you’d rather be wet”.

Clark wanted to refuse, he wanted to come up with some excuse about a deadline or about chores or something else to allow him to leave without more questions but he also wanted to say yes and talk to Alfred like he did in the good old days. It was painful in a way, but he could not refuse him...not now..

He lowered his height until his feet could finally touch the ground and then he gently stood up, and he then reached the ground, he managed to see Alfred’s dim smile slightly emphasized by his mustache, if he had ever known someone more stoic than Bruce himself it was Alfred, Clark was unaware if it was just his inherit stiffness of the British or if it was just his association with Gotham or Bruce...or something else.

It was strange following Alfred into the mansion walking by foot and in the front door rather than flying or entering through the Batcave...as he had not done it for quite a while, he observed again the statues and the dusty old books and the Victorian furniture that Bruce had inherited from his parents who themselves had inherited them from their parents, he saw the persian rug in front of the fireplace that brought Clark memories that made him flush, it was strange and overwhelming and in the few years that he lived there he never quite got used to all this antiques that had been passed down through generations, it was drastically different from his apartment in Metropolis, that while elegant it was also simple and modern...and warmer in a way. It was a while until they reached the kitchen, which was too, really old but at least more simple in a way.

Alfred approached an old steel teapot which Clark guessed it was from the 19th century, but he would have to ask Diana, she was the historian after all.

"You haven’t visited in a while…” said Alfred while he gave Clark a ceramic teapot that probably costs more than his entire apartment...memories were beginning to flush back and he feared he could regret what he was intending to do, Rao! he knew he regretted enough but it needed to be done.

“I...I am sorry Alfred, I truly am…”

“You know, Master Clark...this is your house too...I’d much appreciate a visit every now and then...so would Master Bruce”... Ah, perhaps that was the problem...it made everything more difficult than it needed to be already…

“Alfred, I...I appreciate it...you know I do...but I just came to deliver the divorce papers…” It began to make sense now, why every time he showed up around the mansion Bruce was nowhere to be seen, was he avoiding him? Was he trying to avoid the unavoidable?

The silence was deafening for a couple of minutes, Clark heard how Alfred sipped his cup of tea and without trying himself he could also hear how he sapped the cup of tea, the second sound that Clark could hear, even without his super hearing...was the clock that drowned everything else…

Divorce…

It was never meant to last, was it? It had been glorious while it lasted but it ended the same way it began...not with a whimper but with a bang...with a mirage of secrets and betrayals and hurt feelings, and a feeling of backstabbing that Clark could not yet forgive, and it was hard to recover from that...He wondered if this was the reason Superheroes avoided dating other Superheroes.

“He still loves you, you know?” was the line that broke the silence, Alfred was ever loyal to Bruce and Clark admired that, more than his butler Alfred was Bruce Wayne’s father and as such he remained stalwart and loyal to his son… And it was clear that more than anything he wanted him to be happy.

“He has hardly been the same since you left and he misses you terribly...I am certain that there must be something that can be done, therapy perhaps?” suggested Alfred, he was resilient if anything else.

Clark shook his head sadly.

“I still love him too, I miss him as well, Rao knows how much...but...but I can’t trust him...And I’m tired of fighting, I’m tired of secrets and of secret plans...and he didn’t just hurt me… I am just so tired, Alfred...”

He was hurt, hurt in more ways than one, when he gave Bruce the Kryptonite ring, he never in a million years imagined that it would start what it started and trusting him after that became something he just couldn’t do much longer.

“Diana almost died, J’onn was seriously injured...I just don’t think I can trust him like I used to,” he said sadly…

“I understand, still...it’s not the same without you here...you know, the day of your wedding was the day I swore I saw him the happiest he has ever been in his life”

Ah, the wedding...he remembered the wedding, he remembered the drunken banter Jimmy had gotten himself into with a friend of Bruce’s, he remembered the presence of most of the 7, and Oliver’s poor excuse to be absent, he remembered that Gordon kept the signal off for a month while they both went on a cruiser neither needed to the Caribbean, He could fly, and Bruce could afford his own ship still they decided to take a commercial cruise because it was romantic, he remembered the fried fish, the overpriced coconut based drinks and the glorious sex in a nude island, in which neither cared if they were seen or not...He remembered the presents from Diana, from J’onn, from Hal and Barry and Arthur and Victor...and Dick’s uncomfortable questions...he remembered what they did on the persian rug when they returned from their honey moon and how Bruce whispered in his ear while Clark allowed himself to truly test his strength for once, he remembered the soft touches and the meaningless chatter… And it all made it worse…

Clark put the papers on the table, letting go of the rug, the Caribbean, the cruise, the beach, the wedding, the fireplace, his bedroom and the Justice League.

“I’m sorry...would you please tell him I came by?”

“I will tell him, he’ll sign the papers” said Alfred sounding defeated...Clark truly hated doing this.

“Master Kent, regardless of how you deal with Bruce...please visit every now and then, like I said...this is your home too, and truth be told Dick and I miss you terribly”  
“Of course Alfred, I will visit more often…And please, forgive me for doing this”  
  


He wanted to promise him that he would also forgive Bruce, but he couldn’t do that...Instead he remained with Alfred until the rain passed and he could leave...the place brought him so many memories and he wanted to take a good look before cutting ties.


End file.
